i'm new to wine tasting

Well, if we're talking about dinner wines, this is quite false. Dinner wines are made to complement a meal, and can taste a bit raw when tasted alone.

I'm heading to California to spend a few days wine tasting. I'm

Experience tasting them alone =and= later having them with meals will allow one to learn to make the appropriate connections.

Jose

Dinner wines? I drink any particular wine any time I desire to. Sure some wines benefit greatly with certain foods but if I enjoy a bold heavy red for sipping so be it. I like it at times.

Don't tell anyone but I sometimes drink a red with *gasp* chicken or fish.

I like Chianti with salmon. Otherwise, I have little use for Chianti. And the cheaper the Chianti, the better, because the cheaper ones have more white grapes or are a little weaker for other reasons.

Chicken? I'm not sure what to do with chicken. It is such a bland meat that almost any wine overwhelms it. I don't cook chicken very often, though I do eat canned chicken soup. Grilled chicken has a bit more flavor, and for that a nice Valopolicella might serve well.

"I do eat canned chicken soup" Mr. Urinal: what kind of container is the soup in? also what is the province of the chicken? was it free range or organic? did it answer to the name "Bevo"?

You're act is getting thinner than an anorexic actress...........

wr"ote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

Pinot Grigio overwhelms chicken? Perhaps you should spend less time promoting Italian wine and more time either learning to cook or finding beter restaurants.

I don't cook chicken very often,

How about Bardolino, though some might just like a Rhone.

I mean RED wine, of course.

Bardolino and Valopolicella are of course very similar.

B

Only in the context of a meal.

??? Chianti with salmon seems like one of those combinations that are probably not bad, but not good either, especially if you use cheap Chianti.

You really confuse me, first you defend italian wine as superior, then you go and express your taste for the worst of Chianti. A decent Chianti cannot be cheap, under $20 you are looking at real industrial crap, probably not made using grapes from the Chianti area...

Hmmm, now I am beginning to suspect that you really are misguided. If the chicken is bland, you are buying the wrong kind.

OK, now it makes sense, you enjoy wine only with food, but not necessarily good wine, and definitely not good food. Yeach.

I give up.

Mike:

Not every meal has to be 'gourmet'.

Mike Tommasi wrote:

Depends. Some sre indeed bad, but typical 'normale' Chianti is actually better with salmon than a Riserva.

I seldom drink Chianti or Chianti Classico, except with slamon. It is a combination I like. Your taste may vary. If I really want a Sangiovese, I prefer a nice Morellino, or Chianti Rufina Riserva, or even a nice Vino Nobile.

Certainly not. Moderation... but OTOH there are things I will not touch, one is canned food.

OK, I admit it, with a few exceptions: for example I can buy not-so-bad canned cassoulet with confit de canard; it is not comparable to the real thing, but it is better than most cassoulets served in average retaurants, even in the south-west of France.

Why would you ever need to buy canned chicken soup? If you cook chicken at least once a week like we do, the leftover carcass is great for making real chicken soup, it is almost effortless and tastes great, and contains none of the glutammates and stuff that go into canned or dried soups. Add tortellini and some real parmesan, and you have a gourmet meal cheaper than Kraft dinner...

Mostly, it's lack of time. When I REALLY cook, I like to cook big Italian Regional Slow-Food dinners for about a dozen people.

No-holds barred.

Great food and wine.

For a late supper, as a single man, it's not worth all the trouble. It's this for which a hearty canned soup is acceptable fare.

That is flat out wrong. People drink wine for whatever reason they desire. With or without food. There is no rule that must be followed.

It's not a 'rule', but a fact of nature that wine tastes different with food.

Food tastes different with drinks. Doesn't mean I have to have one with the other. I prefer to let my mood of the day decide what I want at any given moment.

"Michael Scarpitti" wrote .....

A fact of nature??? CODSWALLOP!!!!!!!!

Guess what Michael - when it comes to wine - **THERE ARE NO RULES**

In my forty-odd years as a wine enthusiast, I have met and worked and mingled with hundreds of winemakers and grapegrowers - actually, quite a few of them Italian.

Not one - get that **NOT ONE** has ever expressed the sentiment that wine (quote - your words) be ONLY consumed with food, and should never be "tasted"!

Of course, wine tastes different with food - what sort of chumps to you take us for? (Mmm - I like that Michael; hope you don't mind me borrowing it!!)

Wine is for drinking both with and without food - the choice is in the palate of the drinker.

Get that Michael - no-one gives a rat's arse that you drink only Italian wine and only with food.

No-one gives a diddly-squat what you think about Robert Parker's scoring a

1947 Cheval Blanc or a 1982 Chateau Pichon Lalande a perfect 100 !!

You will never taste those wines - shit man - you can't even spell F-R-E-N-C-H (Are you a child?)

Me? - I will aspire. I will seek perfection!

You? You will continue to grovel, expounding pathetic arguments that you are the only one since the dawn of humanity that knows f*ck everything - well the truth is that you know f*ck all!!!!!

Let us examine *some* of your words of wisdom.

(MS)Tasting is useless! (RESPONSE) Well, damn me - drink without tasting is like eating without swallowing! MORON! (MS)Non Italian wine is piss! (RESPONSE) Shit - Italy makes about 18% of the total world production, and if you exclude the lake of "paintstripper" about

2% of the remotely drinkable wine - what the f*ck would you know about good wine - you won't drink it!!! (MS) Don't let air into your wine; put the cork back in the bottle (RESPONSE) I rest my case - you are a demented f****it! (MS) I have a degree in psychology - (RESPONSE) Oh yes, purchased on line from which bogus institution; and where does that place you among those who contribute to this forum with doctorates!

Guess what Michael - today I phoned Roger (you know - your esteemed favourite wine merchant there on King Avenue in Columbus, Ohio) - just out of curiosity you understand!

Nice guy - I must say he was very *very* surprised to get a call from the Antipodes!

Admittedly, he was coy (may have thought I was with the NZCIA), but when pressed, even he admitted that he thinks that you are a racist bigoted f****it! (Spoken to him lately about the Williams sisters, have you?)

QUESTION? Can an American who is un-American be deported?

ANSWER - Some of your countrymen certainly hope so!

OK rant over - I shall go back to my Argentinean Malbec (2002 Graffigna from San Juan - nice stuff @ about $US10)

Yes, but frankly we would be hesitant to force this tool on the rest of the world (and who would take him?). Some things just shouldn't be exported. Personally, I would prefer that his passport be taken away to prevent contact with people of other countries as his type of behavior is what gives rise to the phrase "ugly american".

Andy

That's right. No 'rules'. There are cold, hard facts, laws of nature, if you will, but no 'rules'.

Maybe you never asked?

Wine is produced with the expectation that it will be consumed in the context of a meal. It is not intended to be a solo act.

I don't care what give a rat's arse about.

Why should I care about Parker or the other American morons who write about wine?

Only a fool does not understand that there is no such thing, at least in products involving natural processes such as grape-growing..

I never said I did. I know only what matters.

I know Roger very well. He is a good buddy. He is Italian and a swell guy. He goes to Italy all the time.

I am not an 'American' if Parker is. When it comes to wines, Americans are the stupidest, most insecure people in the world.

"Michael Scarpitti" wrote.....

Michael - did you read this webpage - all of it - like *really* read it?

Firstly, it is written by an Australian !!!

Next, he is the sommelier at a restaurant in England - and not an Italian restaurant either.

In this article, Matt Skinner says -

"At Fifteen I give customers the chance to try new wines from different parts of the world."

"I would much rather someone try something new and not enjoy it than not have the experience of trying something new."

"Don't get stuck buying the same old thing. The world of wine is an incredibly big place. There has been no better time than now to be buying wine. There is a huge glut currently in the wine market so it's a consumer's market. Keep trying new stuff - if you know you like things from Australia try something from South America or the south of France. ****The most important thing is to have a mixed and varied experience with wines****."

"The key is to be adventurous and keep trying something new."

Thank you for reinforcing everything which we have been saying for years.